# Configuration Reference

AskGov uses environment variables for configuration, making it easy to deploy across different environments without code changes. This reference documents those configuration options.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Security Note**: Never commit `.env` files containing secrets to version control. Use secure secret management systems in production.
{% endhint %}

### Configuration Categories

1. Core Application
2. Database
3. Authentication & Security
4. Email Service
5. Search Engine (Weaviate)
6. Monitoring & Analytics
7. Feature Flags (using Growthbook)
8. Third-party Services

### Core Application

#### Basic Settings

| Variable         | Required | Default                 | Description                                         |
| ---------------- | -------- | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `NODE_ENV`       | Yes      | `development`           | Environment: `development`, `staging`, `production` |
| `PORT`           | No       | `8080`                  | Port for the application server                     |
| `FRONTEND_URL`   | Yes      | `http://localhost:8080` | Public URL of your AskGov instance                  |
| `SESSION_SECRET` | Yes      | -                       | Secret key for session encryption (min 32 chars)    |

#### Example Configuration

```bash
NODE_ENV=production
PORT=8080
FRONTEND_URL=https://ask.yourgov.com
SESSION_SECRET=your-very-long-random-session-secret-key-here-minimum-32-characters
```

#### Application Behavior

| Variable           | Required | Default | Description                          |
| ------------------ | -------- | ------- | ------------------------------------ |
| `SOME_CONFIG_HERE` | Yes/No   | `100`   | Example: Maximum requests per window |

### Database

#### CockroachDB Configuration

| Variable       | Required | Default | Description                  |
| -------------- | -------- | ------- | ---------------------------- |
| `DATABASE_URL` | Yes      | -       | PostgreSQL connection string |

#### Connection String Format

```bash
# Standard PostgreSQL format
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://username:password@host:port/database?sslmode=require

# CockroachDB cluster example
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@cluster.region.cockroachlabs.cloud:26257/askgov?sslmode=require

# Local development
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://root@localhost:26257/askgov?sslmode=disable
```

### Authentication & Security

#### OTP Configuration

| Variable     | Required | Default | Description                     |
| ------------ | -------- | ------- | ------------------------------- |
| `OTP_SECRET` | Yes      |         | Secreet used for generating OTP |

#### CAPTCHA

| Variable               | Required   | Default | Description          |
| ---------------------- | ---------- | ------- | -------------------- |
| `RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY`   | If enabled | -       | reCAPTCHA site key   |
| `RECAPTCHA_SECRET_KEY` | If enabled | -       | reCAPTCHA secret key |

### Email Service

#### SMTP Configuration

#### PostmanGovSG Configuration

| Variable               | Required   | Default        | Description          |
| ---------------------- | ---------- | -------------- | -------------------- |
| `POSTMANGOVSG_API_KEY` | If Postman | -              | PostmanGovSG API key |
| `POSTMANGOVSG_API_URL` | No         | Production URL | API endpoint         |

### Search Engine (Weaviate)

#### Weaviate Connection

| Variable                | Required   | Default | Description                |
| ----------------------- | ---------- | ------- | -------------------------- |
| `WEAVIATE_INSTANCE`     | If enabled | -       | Weaviate instance URL      |
| `WEAVIATE_API_KEY`      | If enabled | -       | Weaviate API key           |
| `WEAVIATE_COHERE_CLASS` | If enabled | -       | Cohere class for embedding |

#### Vectorization Configuration

| Variable             | Required | Default | Description            |
| -------------------- | -------- | ------- | ---------------------- |
| `VECTORIZER_API_KEY` | No       | -       | API key for vectorizer |

### Monitoring & Analytics

#### Application Monitoring

| Variable               | Required   | Default | Description          |
| ---------------------- | ---------- | ------- | -------------------- |
| `DATADOG_CLIENT_TOKEN` | If enabled | -       | Datadog client token |

#### Logging

| Variable    | Required | Default | Description                             |
| ----------- | -------- | ------- | --------------------------------------- |
| `LOG_LEVEL` | No       | `info`  | Level: `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error` |

#### Redis Cache

| Variable    | Required | Default | Description          |
| ----------- | -------- | ------- | -------------------- |
| `REDIS_URL` | Yes      | -       | Redis connection URL |

### Feature Flags

Feature flag is managed by growthbook.

| Variable                | Required | Default | Description    |
| ----------------------- | -------- | ------- | -------------- |
| `GROWTHBOOK_CLIENT_KEY` | Yes      | -       | Client SDK key |

### Environment-Specific Configurations

#### Development Environment

```bash
# .env.development
<put example here>
```

***

{% hint style="success" %}
**Next Steps**

* For deployment: See AWS Production Guide
* For customization: Check Component Customization
* For security: Review Security Guide
  {% endhint %}


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